Exodus 21:18

18 "This is what you must do whenever men quarrel and one hits the other with a rock or with his fist and injures him so that he has to stay in bed.

Exodus 21:18 Meaning and Commentary

Exodus 21:18

And if men strive together
Quarrel and fight, and wrestle with and box one another:

and one smite another with a stone;
which lying near him he might take up, and in his passion throw it at his antagonist:

or with his fist;
with his double fist, as we express it, with his hand closed, that it might come with the greater force, and give the greater blow:

and he die not, but keepeth his bed;
does not die with the blow of the stone or fist, yet receives so much damage by it that he is obliged to take to his bed; or, as the Targum of Jerusalem paraphrases it, is cast on the bed sick; or, as the Targum of Jonathan, falls into a disease, as a fever, or the like, through the force of the blow, so that he is confined to his room and to his bed.

Exodus 21:18 In-Context

16 "Whoever kidnaps another person must be put to death, whether he has sold the kidnapped person or still has him.

17 "Whoever curses his father or mother must be put to death.

18 "This is what you must do whenever men quarrel and one hits the other with a rock or with his fist and injures him so that he has to stay in bed.

19 If the injured man can get up again and walk around outside with a cane, the one who hit him must not be punished. He must pay the injured man for the loss of his time and for all his medical expenses.

20 "Whenever an owner hits his male or female slave with a stick so that the slave dies from the beating, the owner must be punished.